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Three-beat measure

Meter
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A metrical line featuring three primary stresses or beats, regardless of total syllable count, common in Anglo-Saxon and modern verse.

Detailed Definition
A three-beat measure is a metrical line containing three primary stresses, regardless of total syllables, common in ballads, hymns, and folk verse; it creates a brisk, song-like rhythm (e.g., “The wind | blew cold | that night”) and allows flexibility in unstressed syllables, making it ideal for oral transmission and narrative drive in traditional and modern adaptations alike.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The wind / blows cold / through pines” — three strong beats per line; “She walks / with grace / and fire” — iambic trimeter as three-beat measure; “Dark clouds / roll in / from west” — trochaic three-beat rhythm; “My love / is deep / and wide” — simple, songlike three-beat pattern
Additional Notes
Three-beat measure|A line of verse where the rhythm is primarily defined by the presence of three major stressed syllables, regardless of the number of unstressed syllables; a type of accentual verse.
Also Known As
Three-beat rhythm Triple measure Ternary meter Dactylic Trimeter
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